Coyotes at Oilers
The Phoenix Coyotes begin a tour of Western Canada on Tuesday as they visit their new Pacific Division rival in the Edmonton Oilers. A change of scenery might do wonders for the Coyotes, who fell for the fourth time in five contests (1-3-1) with a 5-2 home loss to Chicago on Saturday. Phoenix got the best of Edmonton in the first of five meetings as defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson collected a power-play goal and two assists in a 5-4 triumph on Oct. 26.
Edmonton rebounded from a five-game losing streak to post its fifth win in seven contests, a 3-2 shootout victory over Dallas on Sunday. Devan Dubnyk made 15 saves in relief of Ilya Bryzgalov, who suffered an upper-body injury in a collision with Ryan Garbutt. The Russian had started the last three games after being recalled from Oklahoma City of the American Hockey League following a conditioning stint.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona Plus (Phoenix), RSN West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (15-7-4): Phoenix has been slow getting out of the blocks this season, much to the chagrin of coach Dave Tippett. The Coyotes have lost nine of the 13 contests in which they've yielded the first goal (4-6-3) and seven of the 10 (3-6-1) when they've trailed after the first 20 minutes. "You have to take chances to get yourself back in the game," Tippett told the Arizona Republic. "You open yourself up more. We've had some games this year where we've actually got away with it. But when you get away with it, sometimes you don't learn."
ABOUT THE OILERS (9-17-2): With Bryzgalov ailing, Edmonton recalled Jason LaBarbera from Oklahoma City on Monday. The former Coyote yielded five goals on 27 shots in the first meeting, but Dubnyk is expected to get the nod on Tuesday despite a 2-5-2 career mark versus Phoenix. Boyd Gordon is expected to miss the contest with a bevy of injuries. "Pick a body part on Boyd right now ... shoulder, knuckle, leg, back have all flared up on him," coach Dallas Eakins told the Edmonton Journal.
OVERTIME
1. Phoenix assigned D Rostislav Klesla to Portland of the American Hockey League on Monday.
2. Edmonton's Philip Larsen is likely to return to the ice after the Oilers shipped fellow D Corey Potter to the Barons.
3. The Coyotes have scored a power-play goal in five of their last seven contests.